Games of 1992 - ranked by preference

Final Fantasy V gets overlooked pretty often in debates of the best Final Fantasy games, but I always thought that it held its own rather well. An endearing cast of characters, a job class system, and some nifty vehicles like having not just an airship to explore the skies, but also a submarine to explore the ocean depths, and you've got yourself one of the better games in the Final Fantasy franchise that will hopefully get the recognition that it deserves one day.

The fighting genre was around before Street Fighter II was released...But Street Fighter II opened everyone's eyes that fighting games could actually be fun when done right. And Street Fighter II was definitely done right - it's still just as fun to play today as it was back in 1992. The controls are still silky smooth and the graphics and music are still pretty nice to look at, too. It's a game that's easy to pick up and play, but it takes time to master, making it perfect for newcomers and veterans alike. To this day, Street Fighter II can hold its own against any other fighting game you throw at it.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is the definition of a great sequel - bigger, better, improved visuals and sounds, and with familiar gameplay that is tweaked to be better than before. The addition of Tails introduced two-player gameplay to the series, which only added to the enjoyment level. The first Sonic the Hedgehog was good fun, but this sequel is great - some still consider it to be the best game in the series today. I don't necessarily agree with that, my personal favorite is Sonic CD, but this is a VERY close second in my eyes.

The original Contra on the NES was tough, but it was a cakewalk compared to this tough-as-nails, scrolling shooter. Contra III delivers more of what the first game in the series game us - more explosions, more aliens, more weapons, and as previously mentioned, more difficulty. In fact your only reward for surviving through the game on Normal difficulty is the game telling you to beat it on Hard if you want to see an ending or fight the game's true final boss. Despite its increased difficulty, Contra III is a superior game to the original in just about every way and is easily one of the best run-and-gun style games to ever be created.

I've always enjoyed hockey games, dating back to Hat Trick on the Commodore 64, but NHLPA Hockey '93 was different. Not only was it a fantastic game to play, but it kept track of statistics should you pursue to play a season. Oh, and you could fight, too. Nothing made this game seem more cool than when two hockey players hurled their gloves to the ice and engaged in fisticuffs while their teammates gathered 'round to cheer on in approval.

Ever want a sequel to Balloon Fight? Hello Kitty World may be the closest that you'll get. In Hello Kitty World, you got from level to level trying to stay afloat via your balloons, while also popping any stray balloons you find. The game starts out easy, but the difficulty increases substantially from level to level, and by the end, every movement has to be precise or you're gonna pop your balloons very quickly. Also neat is the ability to ditch your balloons in order to enter doorways or nab extra lives in areas that you normally wouldn't be able to reach while clinging to your helium-filled means of transportation. You can then quickly blow up some more balloons to continue floating around. This game really is fantastic and easily one of my favorite imports on the NES.

From what I've seen, Europe LOVES Streets of Rage 2. Retro Gamer, a magazine in Europe, allowed its readers to vote to compile a list of the 25 best Genesis (or Mega Drive as it's known as over there) games of all-time...and this game appeared to have won the number one spot by a pretty large margin. While I don't believe that it's the best game on the system (my choice, Gunstar Heroes, came in at number 3), it is pretty amazing all the same. It's easily one of the best side-scrolling brawlers of all-time...and according to many, it IS the best. If you haven't played it yet, give it a try and decide for yourself.

Turtles in Time is a fun, interesting brawler with a unique take on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles universe, having the heroes in a half-shell traverse various time periods in an effort to take down that Shredder fellow....Not too unique, I suppose given the movie with the similar theme, but still a little unique...It's still time travel with mutant reptiles that know martial arts, that's pretty unique, isn't it? Anyway, Turtles in Time is one of the better side-scrolling brawlers ever released and still fun to play today...Just don't play that horrible remake that Ubisoft put out a few years ago. Play this one instead.

Shining Force may not have the story of a Final Fantasy game, but its combat system, which played much like a game of chess, more than made up for it. I feel like the next two Shining Force games improve on the formula found here, but prior to their releases, Shining Force was an awesome RPG for Genesis owners. It, along with the Phantasy Star games, helped make up for the fact that the SNES was loaded with awesome RPGs...'Cause Shining Force is pretty awesome in its own right.

Air Zonk mildly reminds me of the Parodius series - a solid, fun, third-person, scrolling shooter with a comical, cartoony touch to it. I like a game that doesn't take itself seriously. Anyway, Air Zonk is the first TurboGrafx-16 game that I ever beat...And I've beaten it more than once. The gameplay is solid, the levels are varied, and each weapon at your disposal is totally unique, both in appearance and in their effects. As far as scrolling shooters go, I easily place Air Zonk near the top of the list of my personal favorites.

E.V.O. has always been a game that I absolutely loved the concept for, but I just wish it had been longer. For a game about evolution, I wanted a nice, long 50+ hour game...Unfortunately, Search for Eden take only a fraction of that time to complete. That said, it's still fun starting the game off as a fish and evolving into amphibeans, reptiles, mammals, and birds...And the best part? The details of your evolution are up to you. Do you want harder skin to lessen damage or some sharp horns to deal more damage to your foes or do you just want a light atop your head to attract fish to eat that otherwise flee when they see you? There are plenty of evolutionary options to explore as you play. I wish there were more games out there like this one...The evolution concept really makes for a very enjoyable and interesting gaming experience.

The Revenge of Death Adder is probably my favorite game in the Golden Axe franchise. The enemies and locations have such variety to them, and the branching pathways, and playable characters that play completely different from each other...There is plenty here to keep you coming back for seconds and thirds....or hundredths. I'm also a huge fan of Dora, the female centaur, whom I've proudly used to donkey-kick Death Adder to oblivion on more than one occasion. But anyway, as far as brawlers go, I consider this game near the top of that list.

I always kinda thought that Landstalker was Sega's attempt at a Zelda game...and in a few ways, it worked. Landstalker is an excellent, addicting adventure game...the only thing preventing me from giving it a higher score is the isometric viewpoint, which makes some of the platforming in the game downright maddening. Isometric platforming excluded, this is a fantastic game that is worth tracking down, especially if you're into the action-adventure genre.

Adventure Island was an okay game. Adventure Island II was better. Adventure Island 3 was even better, improving on everything fun from the first two games. It also introduced new weapons, bonus stages, and dinosaurs to ride. The levels also feature a lot more variety, which just makes this seem like a better overall package in comparison to the first two games in the franchise.

The Christmas of 1992 was a glorious Christmas day for the wrestling fans of Japan, for that was the day that Super Fire Pro Wrestling 2 appeared on store shelves. An improvement on the first Super Fire Pro Wrestling game in nearly every way, SFPW 2 was a big step towards the Fire Pro franchise being the professional wrestling game juggernaut that it eventually became.

The first Kirby game I played was Kirby's Adventure on the NES, so when I went back and played the original game on Game Boy, I'll admit, I was a little disappointed with the lack of being able to absorb new abilities. That said, if you actually stick with this game and play through to the end, you're rewarded with a charming platformer and a very solid Game Boy game. If you find it too easy, you can always hit up, select, and A at the same time on the title screen, which allows you to play the game on a much harder difficulty, giving you a little more bang for your buck.

An old man in a carrot suit is one of the many odd sightings in Toejam and Earl, a game that is moderately entertaining when playing alone...but the fun steps up a notch when playing with a pal. The game is actually very easy...and while I might normally dock a game for that, Toejam and Earl is just so charming that even with the low difficulty and sometimes too-slow pace, that you'll likely want to push forward simply to see what this game throws at you next. There's a reason that this game has a pretty loyal fanbase, afterall.

I liked the first Sonic the Hedgehog on the Master System, but felt it lacked some of the elements, like a sense of speed, that made the Genesis Sonic games so fun. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 does a better job at that, providing Master System owners with a pretty enjoyable platformer with an improved sense of speed, better level design, and just an overall improvement over the original. The Genesis games are still better, but if your only option of playing a Sonic game is on the Master System, this is definitely a worthwhile game to play.

Buster Busts Loose is a pretty good platformer based around the Tiny Toon Adventures universe. I adored this cartoon as a child, and I remember renting this game a few times and thinking it was the best game ever. I've gotten older and wiser over the years, and while I still love the cartoon, I know that a license doesn't make or break a game - the gameplay does. Luckily, Buster Busts Loose has that covered with some solid platforming action and mini-games for extra lives between the levels. Just about every character from the Tiny Toons universe pays a visit in this game, too, making it nostalgic for old-timers like me to play through and see memories of one of our favorite childhood television shows in the game. That all said, this isn't the best platformer on the system, but it's still a solid one and one worth playing when you've had your fill of Mario, Donkey Kong, and/or Mega Man.

Legends of the Diamond is a baseball game that I absolutely adored as a kid. The gameplay is solid, but as a baseball fanatic as a young'un, the ability to play as all-time greats like Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and Cy Young just added to the fun. Legends of the Diamond is also the game that had me go out of my way to bean the batters when pitching, just so I could watch the batter rush the mound and the dugouts clear as a giant brawl erupts. Games like Baseball Stars and RBI Baseball may be better overall games, but Legends of the Diamond is still a solid baseball game with plenty of novelty fun.

X-Men is a plausible brawler, but take away the X-Men licence that is likely to grab the attention of folks and it's not really anything special. It's a fun, well done game...But there isn't anything here, aside from the X-Men licence, that really makes it too different from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game that came out three years prior. If you wanted to play TMNT as Nightcrawler of Wolverine, then this game will be right up your alley. Otherwise, you might be thinking that you basically played the same game a few years ago with a different set of mutants that were heroes in a half-shell.

With a name like Pocky & Rocky, and looking at the box art, one may assume that this would be a cute-looking 2D platformer...That assumtion would be wrong. Pocky & Rocky is a scrolling, third-person shooter...And don't let the cute characters fool you, this game is far from a cakewalk. The thing (aside from the cute character models) that separates Pocky & Rocky from the rest of the scrolling shooter pack is that the screen doesn't automatically scroll - you control the scrolling. It can feel a bit weird at first, but you'll eventually get the hang of it. If you're a fan of scrolling shooters, but want something a little different, Pocky & Rocky is an excellent choice.

Kid Chameleon is about a Fonzie wannabe with multiple personality disorder...Or at least that's what I tell myself. The story actually has nothing to do with that. But anyway, Kid Chameleon is a solid platformer where the player can transform into various forms like a knight, a samurai, and even a hockey-mask-wearing serial killer....Not sure if it's supposed to be a serial killer...Again, that's what I tell myself. But anyway, Kid Chameleon is well worth playing. If you haven't played it yet, play it. You won't regret it.

When I saw the cover of this game, I kind of avoided it...It didn't pop out to me as something that I thought that I'd enjoy. I was dead wrong. After playing it for seconds, and discovering the quirky humor found within, I was instantly a fan. Not only is this an adventure-style game, but you'll occasionally find yourself in fist-fights and always trying to increase your popularity since some people only talk to cool kids like you have the potential to be. In real life, playing this game may actually increase your popularity...Or not. Well, I'll think that your cooler, if that matters any.

John Madden Football '93 is basically the same game as '92, but with updated rosters and 8 of the greatest all-time teams up to that point in history. This is the football game that I grew up with, so there's a little nostalgia there, but since there's not a ton of innovation here from Madden '92, I can't really rank it any higher than here.

Darkwing Duck is yet another quality Capcom-made Disney game. The Capcom Disney games varied in quality, with all of them being passable, but some being better than others. Darkwing Duck seems to be somewhere in the middle in that regard, where it's good, but not nearly as good as other games like Duck Tales or Rescue Rangers. Basically, you choose a level to go to, platform and shoot your way through it, battle a boss, rinse and repeat. It's good. It's solid. But it's not Capcom's best 8-bit Disney game by far.

This portable Adventure Island game is pretty solid, offering the dinosaur pals, hammers, and skateboards of Adventure Island II on the NES in portable, monochromatic form. I think it's one of the better platformers on the original Game Boy, though, to me anyway, it seems like it's a tad on the easy side when compared to the NES Adventure Island games. But, if you want a solid platformer for on the go, Adventure Island is a good way to go.

Splatterhouse 2 seems extremely easy and boring at first...And at times it can be. However, as you get near the end of the game, especially at the frustrating final stretch of boss fights, this can become a pretty difficult game. You'll need some pretty quick reflexes unless you're planning on using a lot of continues along your road to the ending. That said, this game is better than the original Splatterhouse in just about every way, but still falls a little short in regards to well-known, well-loved brawlers like Final Fight and Streets of Rage.

If you've never played Lotus Turbo Racing, imagine Rad Racer in 16-bits...but Rad Racer with various obstacles on the road aside from vehicles...like logs, rocks, and puddles. The end result is pretty enjoyable - it's not perfect, but it's a nice spin on the formula. If you're looking for a racing game on the Genesis, this one is a decent one to try.

Warriors of the Eternal Sun , like many Dungeons and Dragons video games, seems kind of crude. It's not much to look at and the controls initially feel a bit awkward...but stick with it and you'll find a passable RPG experience. There really isn't anything here that will "wow" anyone, but this game does have a certain charm to it that may win you over if you take the time to give it a chance.

WWF Super Wrestlemania may share the same name as the SNES version of Super Wrestlemania, but it's a different game and a better one. The Genesis version has exclusive wrestlers like Papa Shango, Ultimate Warrior, and the British Bulldog, as well as finishing moves for each wrestler, something lacking in the SNES version. The gameplay is extremely basic, and lock-ups are simply button-mashing mini games, but if you're a wrestling fan, then you'll likely have fun here regardless.

Super Star Wars marks JVC's second attempt at the Star Wars franchise. Their original attempt on the NES wasn't really anything to write home about...But JVC seemed to learn from some of their mistakes and they published a fairly decent game here. It's not great by any means, but it's decent. I still prefer the Japan-only, Namco-published Star Wars game on the NES to this one, but this is still a solid title and worth playing if you're a Star Wars nut...or even if you're not. I'm not, and I liked it.

If you were a kid in a public school in 1992, you probably knew about Kid Pix, the drawing program that most schools had on their computers with wacky noises and special effects. Seeing the popularity of the software, Nintendo put out its own version and titled it Mario Paint with some Nintendo characters added in. You could also compose music and play a mini game (using the mouse) where you swat flies as they fly around on the screen. As neat as those features are, most people will likely get bored after an hour or two fiddling with everything. It's a neat concept, but not really anything you should go out of your way to play.

I believe that this was the first mixed-martial arts video game ever made, based off of the RINGS promotion in Japan, based around what MMA used to be - style vs. style. Pick a character (they don't have names, just their fighting style) and see what happens when boxing goes against lucha libre or judo against karate. The different styles mean that every character has totally different movesets from each other and it forces the player to have different strategies for each opponent. It's far from perfect, but it's still a pretty solid title worth a look for both fighting and MMA enthusiasts.

Acid Drop is one of the many puzzle games that appeared after the massive success of Tetris. The difference being that Acid Drop was on the Atari 2600...about 10 years after the popularity of that system had hit its peak. Acid Drop is basically most like Columns in that you've got blocks of multiple colors and your goal is to match-up three of each color. It's not horrible by any means, but due to the console that it was released on, not too many have experienced it...or even heard of it, for that matter.

F1 Circus is a top-down racing game similar in style to Micro Machines, but not nearly as charming or fun. It's not a horrible game by any means, and if you're an F1 fanatic, you may enjoy some of the customization options found here, but for the most part the racing is kind of boring. It's still decent when you consider the whole package, but the bland racing prevents this game from getting a higher score.

Ultimate Fighter is a hybrid of several game types. First and foremost, it's a brawler - walk around and beat people up. There's also a mode that is essentially a one-on-one fight between your character and an enemy of your choosing. The final game type is the most interesting...Animation mode is what it's called. Essentially, this turns the brawler into an RPG, skipping out all of the unnecessary brawling and focusing purely on the boss fights, with an emphasis on turn-based strategy rather than action gameplay skill. With all of these features, the title Ultimate Fighter seems to be the perfect fit...Except much of the game isn't done the best. The controls are choppy and much of the between-boss-fights brawling feels more like a chore than it feels fun. There's enough innovation here to justify me giving it a passable score...But just barely. There are some really good ideas here...Unfortunately, they're accompanied by poor execution.

Felix the Cat is a barely-passable platformer that has has a three-level power up system, that allows Felix to use different attacks in each level so long as he doesn't get hit by an enemy or die. The interesting aspect is that the power-ups are often specific to certain stages...Like you may be Felix with a briefcase in one level, Felix riding hot-air balloons in the next, and Felix piloting a submarine in the next. Unfortunately, when you get to boss fights, they're usually absurdly easy...Especially if you managed to make it to the fight with the highest-possible power-ups. That said, Felix is worth playing for 2D platformer nuts, as they've got some innovative ideas...But nothing that makes this game more than just simply "passable."

Fatal Fury isn't a bad game, but if you play it after playing a gem like Street Fighter II, the controls don't feel as smooth and the game as a whole seems rather disappointing. But, without comparing it to another game, Fatal Fury is still a passable experience, but I'd recommend other games in the Fatal Fury/King of Fighters series over this one unless you're curious and would like to see the origins of the long-running franchise.

When you create the most popular puzzle game of all time, what do you do? Create more puzzle games, of course. Hatris was one of the puzzle games that Alexey Pajitnov created after the success of Tetris...And much like his other puzzle games, Hatris is nowhere near the quality of Pajitnov's original creation. Basically, you've got an assortment of craniums lining the bottom of the screen and you've got to place hats in sets of two on the heads. Match-up multiple hats to make them go away, and continue the process until the hats hit the top of the screen. The game is alright for a puzzle game, to be completely honest, but as I stated above, it's nowhere near the quality of Tetris. But, if you're a big fan of matching puzzle games and looking for something different, Hatris isn't all that bad.

When I first played this, I was a veteran of the NES Little Mermaid title, so I was expecting a prettier version of that game. Instead, I got a poor Ecco the Dolphin rip-off. It's not all bad...The game looks gorgeous, and the ability to play as Ariel or her pops is a nice option...But, like I said, it's just an Ecco the Dolphin rip-off. It never comes into its own at any point...The game feels less like a game and more like something to remind you that you should stop playing and put Ecco the Dolphin in instead.

I loved WWF Super Wrestlemania as a kid...And quite frankly, I could lose a few minutes here and there with it still today...But that's more due to the fact that I'm a wrestling nut than it is that this game is good by any means. In Super Wrestlemania, the controls are solid enough, but what hurts the game is the lack of match options (singles, tag, and elimination tag) since a tournament-style road to the title would have been nice. Also hurting the game is that every single wrestler plays exactly the same. There are no finishing moves, so Earthquake has the same move set as Randy Savage. Despite the decent controls and easy-to-play design, there's nothing here to keep the average player around for more than a match or two before they move onto something better.

One year prior to Joe & Mac appearing on the NES, Joe & Mac appeared on the Super NES. That game was a nice, solid platformer that wasn't above-average by any means, but fun nevertheless. The NES title is passable, but not nearly as fun as its Super NES older brother. The level designs aren't nearly as interesting, nor are the enemies. It feels like a step back rather than a step forward for the franchise...And part of that may be due to the fact that they literally went backwards in console generations. Like I said earlier, this game is still passable on its own merits, but it doesn't have anywhere near the polish of the Super NES Joe & Mac game not just in the graphical department (though honestly, it doesn't look too shabby for an 8-bit game), but as far as gameplay is concerned as well.

Electronic Arts had been putting out some pretty good basketball games...Then they put out this, which feels more like it should have been extra modes on one of their games rather than its own game. If this game were extra modes on another game, it would be a welcome addition...On its own, however, its moderately fun at first, but the fun fades fast due to a lack of any real substance. It's an interesting, original game, but one that will not hold your attention for long unless you're a die-hard basketball fan.

Yoshi's Cookie is a barely-passable puzzle game starring Mario's dinosaur pal, Yoshi. The game is simple - match up the same kind of cookies together to make them disappear. Clear the screen of all the cookies and you're a winner. I've never been very impressed by the gameplay here...I find it very boring, though the game works the way it's supposed to and it doesn't have any technical flaws...The main flaw lays in the design. It takes far too long for the speed to pick up...I almost fell asleep waiting for the next column of cookies to inch its way into place on the screen. This game is passable, and I'm sure some puzzle game fans probably love this game...But I'm not one of them. I think it's a bit over-rated, honestly.

DragonStrike isn't a horrible game, as much as it's just an awkward one to get used to. Your goal is to fly around a level to achieve whatever goal you're told to do before entering the level. The first goal is to find and eliminate a few white dragons, so you fly around and spray fireballs at your opponents until they perish. You can also decrease and increase your altitude in order to attack enemies closer to the ground or higher in the sky. It can all be fun...But first you have to battle with getting used to the controls, which can feel very awkward until you're used to 'em. But, when you've got it, this isn't too bad of a game.

Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt is a barely passable game. The game consists of Pugsley trying to find candy while jumping on top of enemies to kill them...Often with one enemy hitting you while you're stomping on the skull of another, which leads to deaths that feel rather cheap. Patience can eliminate a number of those deaths, but patient or not, it still happens often enough where you might just lose interest in playing at times. If you do stick around, you'll find a mildly entertaining game that is passable, but it's also nothing special nor is it worth going out of your way to play.

WWF Wrestlemania Steel Cage Challenge has all of the modes and familiar wrestling faces to make this a top-notch wrestling title for the Master System...Unfortunately, like most Acclaim/Flying Edge/Arena/LJN wrestling games, the actual gameplay is terrible. Granted, the game as a whole is still better than the NES version of the same game...But not by a whole heckuva lot. If you want to play a wrestling game with various WWF stars of the time, this is the game to play...But if you actually want to enjoy yourself a little bit, then Sega's Pro Wrestling is the way to go.

What happened? WWF Wrestlemania Challenge was kind of fun....Adding a steel cage and an updated roster would be awesome! What? Sculptured Software re-did the game engine? It sucks now? Cage matches end after one body slam? Why is this description nothing but questions? Long story short, WWF Wrestlemania: Steel Cage Challenge is awful. It's not quite as bad as WWF Wrestlemania on the NES, but it's still a large step in the wrong direction. At least you can listen to an 8-bit version of the Mountie's theme, though...I suppose that's a plus in the very least.

I have no idea what to say here...Regardless of how sharp turns are in this game, you never, ever have to hit your breaks...Nor will you slow down when sliding around corners. The only times that you'll slow down during the race is if you hit another car or if you leave the track and drive on the grass...And even then, half the time the game didn't register anything. Something is also wrong when the cars you're racing against are so large that you've barely got any room on either side of them to pass them without leaving the track. On top of all of that, it's just a very boring racing experience, which really exposes all of the weaknesses that I mentioned. If you're looking for a satisfying racing game on the Super Famicom, this is not the game to look to.